Someone asked me what it was like to work with a professional editor. I had to admit that I’ve never worked with a professional editor.
For this book, the editing was in several different stages.
1st– I edit as I write. Each day I try to read and edit what I wrote the day before.
2nd– I gave each chapter to my editor (my mom) as it was written and printed.
3rd– A small team of beta-readers took my book and read it through marking typos, and things that needed fixed.
4th– After the book was formatted, corrected, and I had the paperback proof copy, a friend at church read and marked more things to fix.
5th– My sister then read the book and marked things with her purple pen. (Hey, her favorite color is purple, so why not?)
Is the book perfect and free from errors? No. And it’s never going to be perfect because I am human. Hopefully there won’t be any glaring errors, but there are bound to be a couple small things that aren’t perfect. They remind me that we can’t be perfect on our own. Only Jesus Christ was perfect, and in Him I am washed whiter than snow. One day my imperfections will be gone, and I will be perfect because of Christ.
Word for today: hymns
How do you edit? Do you find mistakes in professionally published books? Does it bug you, or do you smile and realize that no one is perfect?
Thanks for the reminder that no one- and no book!- is perfect except for Christ and the Bible. I must admit that it oftentimes does bother me when I find typos in books, but I hope I will keep this reminder in mind when I find such imperfections. 🙂
🙂 Even traditionally published books have mistakes. I found one just the other week in a book that had won an award. We’re human. 🙂
Precisely! And I am very grateful for that reminder. 🙂
Loved this post! I have found errors in quite a few books, including textbooks! I’m glad we aren’t perfect yet. I am happy to need God and to depend entirely on Him.
Yes! I think we have a tendency to want to point out all the errors in books and elsewhere forgetting that we are not prefect.